Jaguar Mark II 3.8: Overview and paint

As a one-time owner of a Rover 2000 TC, known to some as 'the poor man's Jag', I secretly lusted after a Mark II, although I would never have admitted it at the time. I also had the opportunity of working on Rovers (mine as well as customers') and Jags, and concluded that at best, the Jag was no more reliable than the Rover. Perhaps the Rover's use of a mechanical fuel pump put it marginally ahead of the Jag, which relied on a pair of the dreaded S.U. electric pumps; both used the same S.U. HS8 2" carbs, Lucas electrics and Smiths gauges and heater fans. 

Tamiya's kit is absolutely superb, even coming with a sheet of dark red felt for the carpet, and I began assembling it completely stock after concluding that the V12 from the XJ-S really wouldn't fit. (That would be a project for the whale-like Mark X, in my view, which would make it a Mark XII. But I digress.) 

The body is done, with the exception of a couple of bubbles low on the trunk lid that will need some sanding and respraying. I'll probably dribble a bit more panel line down the seams as the paint refused to flow into these grooves adequately.

The callout for body colour is a bit odd: Instructions call for "TS-43, British Racing Green"; but my can of TS-43 clearly says Racing Green, and to my eyes is a bit light. TS-9, British Green, is darker and in my view closer to the correct colour, although to be fair the Rover was Willow Green, a couple of shades darker than the classic BRG. And I checked the Tamiya website: there doesn't appear to be a "British Racing Green" in Tamiya's colour chips.

The interior colours for leather are very nice, with the leather a 50:50 mix of flat and gloss reds (XF-7 and X-7 respectively), and carpeted sections 4 parts flat red cut with 1 part smoke (X-19).

Stay tuned! Yes, yes, I'll get back to the 917K eventually.

Porsche 917 PA: Complete (#7 for 2021)

Some of you may remember Allen James and his website www.racecarmodeler.com. Allen passed away some time ago; and I dug out this resin kit he made to build in his memory. 

The 917 PA was a lightened and roofless 917 K, with bodywork resembling the earlier 908/02 and 908/03. In spite of turning up at the 1969 Can-Am at mid-season, Jo Siffert did well against the much bigger 7-litre McLarens in spite of a 2.5 litre disadvantage. Of course the later turbocharged 917/20 and 917/30 quickly dominated the Can-Am in future seasons. 

I am particularly fond of this car because of the very clean shape. The kit is a good one, for a simple resin body, but the decals crumbled; fortunately I had thought to scan them prior to cutting them up and was able to print a copy, although not at as high a resolution as I would have liked. I still need to touch up the decals once it's all completely set, then coat with clear.

At the time of his passing, Allen was working on a resin kit of the C-Type Jaguar that would have used the Revell XK-SS as a donor; I am not sure what happened to those moulds. Of course the Revell XK-SS is not exactly common any more either...

VW 928 Scirocco: Background

Needing a break from the 917K, I looked around the stash and found, side by side in the German road car section, AMT's Scirocco and a tarted-up 928 Targa from Revell, both in 1:25 scale. 

Then I recalled the article in Road & Track back in 1979, describing a Golf with 928 chassis (click here), and I figured what's sauce for the Golf is sauce for the Scirocco. So out came the saws! 

Fortunately the 928 featured a transaxle so there will be very little need for a transmission hump in the cockpit, and the general layout looks fine. But the stance will need to be looked at, as it is sitting way too high.  

The 1:1 Nordstadt Golf was actually widened by 9" to fit over the 928 chassis, but that requires widening the windshield as well, which was identified in the article as a major expense. So I've decided to cram as much under the Scirocco skin as possible, and deal with the tires by means of flares. The Scirocco kit actually comes with a set of really ugly ones, so we'll see once the chassis is built up and inserted into the body.

Porsche 917K (MFH): Chassis I

I am now remembering what the problem was with the 908/03: All those flexible little white metal bits making up the tube frame. The minuscule dowel and socket joints, with next to no surface area for the glue to grab on to; the fact nothing lines up without a lot of careful bending, filing, drilling and cussing; the fact the weight of the engine (which in the 917K has 50% more cylinders) puts a huge load on all the joints and keeps pulling them apart... These kits have to be the most difficult MFH kits, period.

And don't get me started on the heat sinks for the little relays attached to the bulkhead! Each consists of a white metal relay, a photo-etched baseplate that bends up to form the outermost cooling fins, and 4 more actual fins. It took me a couple of hous to come up with an assembly routine that worked.

So anyway will this be a better build than the 908/03? I certainly hope so, but I'm not holding out too much hope. Meanwhile I might need a break (again) to get back in to the Zen mode that these kits demand.

But that said, the engine sure looks good inside that frame! Stay tuned!

Ford Galaxie 500 XL: Complete (#6 for 2021)

This was a relatively quick build as the basic kit is a 1960's reissue and is thus relatively simple. A few simple modifications (decals, gauge panel, oil cooler) converted it to British Saloon Car Championship specs.

The 427 came from the factory with either a pair of 4-barrel carbs, or a tri-carb setup; but the Holman and Moody folks went for a single carb which didn't seem to prevent it making over 450 hp. 

The interior was essentially stock as per the regs; the regs even frowned on a roll cage as it was assumed the primary reason for it was to stiffen the chassis. It seems the scrutineers insisted it be weakened over time to the point where it would not have been of any use in a roll over.

The Falcon ran at the Monte Carlo the year later had a 289 with a pair of Carter carbs, making about 300 hp. The two make an interesting pair. 

That's it for now, not sure what's next -- stay tuned!

Ford Galaxie 500 XL: Background

Ford was taking racing seriously in the early '60s, and not just trying to take down Ferrari at Le Mans.

The record books will go on at great lengths about the 1964 Monte Carlo win by the Mini driven by Paddy Hopkirk and Harry Liddon. I will admit that the win was certainly well deserved, but the reality is that a Ford Falcon Futura Sprint with a Holman & Moody 4.7 litre 289, driven by Bo Ljungfeldt and Fergus Sager, won or tied every single stage, a record which, as far as a quick Google search can ascertain, has not been repeated since. The Mini, which came in 17 seconds behind the Falcon in overall time, won due to handicap rules that favoured smaller engines combined with a win around the Monte Carlo street course where it was better suited than the 300 hp Ford. I wrote up my build of Ljungfeldt's Falcon, based on the Trumpeter kit, here.

In 1963, in a most ungentlemanly move, a Brit named Jack Sears obtained a Ford Galaxie 500 XL to compete in the British Saloon Car Championships against shoals of Minis, Cortinas and Jag sedans. While the Galaxie needed coaxing to get it around corners, and the drum brakes weren't really up to the task of slowing the monster all that quickly, the sheer grunt of the 7 litre 427 motor (also prepped by NASCAR legends Holman & Moody) ensured that Sears handily took the championship that year. 

 

So here are the initial steps in building a replica of Sears' Galaxie, using the reissued AMT kit.. 

My first crack at Bare Metal Foil in a while is only moderately successful. I tried foiling the two badges on the front fenders prior to putting on the white paint but that was only moderately successful; maybe I am missing something. The homemade decals also leave somewhat to be desired and have now been nailed down with a decent coat of clear. 

 

Stay tuned! The kit is pretty simple so it should be quick.

Lamborghini Countach Prototype: Complete (#5 for 2021)

The intent here was to reproduce the prototype for this iconic supercar, which was clean and sleek but which (I assume) tended to overheat due to insufficient ducts, scoops and slots cut into the bodywork. Sadly the purity of the original shape was subjected to many more such aero mods, including fender arches, aero sills and honking big wings.

The prototype had very simple rear lenses, a lack of openings in the flanks, and a periscope-style rear view mirror cut into the roof. In front the bumper was a thin sheet painted body colour. Window frames were chromed.

 

 

The prototype was painted a yellowish orange, according to period photos on the Interweb. This Krylon Bauhaus Gold will have to do, as the photos are all quite different. Having been driven hard and modified extensively, it was then driven into the crash barrier to illustrate conformity with the regulations, and so doesn't exist today. 

 

 

Drivetrain was radical in that the 4-litre V12 engine was longitudinal, with the gearbox extending into the cockpit, and a driveshaft running back through the sump to the final drive. The Interweb mentions the 5 litre motor which promptly blew up during a high-speed run; so the initial production run stuck with the tried and true 4-litre.

This Fujimi Enthusiast kit is particularly fiddly, and the build is not one of my best as I got increasingly frustrated as the build went on. Nonetheless it will sit well next to its stable mate at Bertone, the equally outrageous and wedgy Stratos. 

So next I need to get some confidence back, perhaps by building something quick and easy; then onto new heights! Stay tuned.